Recently, the market of digital music players has been rapidly expanding. Well-known manufacturers such as Apple® have developed various new MP3 products with the newest music management software to satisfy consumers' needs of smaller, high performance, high capacity and lower cost devices.
Today there is widespread popularity and use of handheld devices such as MP3 audio players that have a major function of delivering programmed audio signal from an external audio source to the ears of a user via a cable and headphones. There is gaining popularity of single function, high storage capacity, displayless devices that are micro in size in contrast to the more common hand held devices that perform similar functions of audio playback. These micro MP3 players are lightweight, clip to clothing and interface to standard audio headsets.
For the purpose of maintaining and increasing their market share in the growing market of digital music players the so-called iPod Shuffle®, the newest digital music player manufactured by Apple®, is provided with a storage medium of a flash memory instead of a miniature hard disk used in the previous “iPod” digital music player. As a result, the thickness of the iPod Shuffle player is only 5 mm, and the weight thereof is only 16 g, so as to carry out the design purpose of miniaturization.
A traditional audio headset is a “passive” device that requires an audio source such as a radio, CD/tape player, MP3 or “iPod” music player. Until now, the headset and the external audio source have traditionally been separate devices, connected by long cables and worn about the body and the head.
During the use of handheld audio devices, the user must hold the device in one hand, visually sight the display and access the controls with the other hand usually during some form of activity. This is also generally performed with both headphones in place about the user's ears and isolating the user from hearing environmental sounds or other people speaking.
When listening to audio from an audio player, using a conventional headphone or player system, the user is inhibited from monitoring the sounds in the immediate surrounding environment such as parking lots, traffic cross walks, crowded venues and the like. In the listening of audio files and background music, a user would be capable of receiving full benefit of an audio player while listening through one ear, leaving the other ear free to monitor the environmental background sounds, if an improved audio player device were to exist.
Persons that are engaged in various activities, such as walking, exercising, biking, working at a desk, relaxing or the like, enjoy listening to pre-recorded audio material through headphones. The headphones are physically attached to the audio device via wires that are used to channel the audio output from the audio device to the stereo speakers in the headset. The existence of the physical connection (i.e., wires) between the headphones and the audio device can be burdensome, annoying and potentially dangerous.
Most headsets require one or more cables for connecting to the external audio source and/or for connecting the earpieces. Headset cables are usually of some fixed length and they are quite often either too long or too short. Most people use some kind of cable tie to wrap the cable into a bundle so as to control their length. This cable management makes the use of a headset quite troublesome during physical activity, storing away and untangling to reuse.
Wires or cords can become tangled or can catch on an object and thereby interfere with the use and enjoyment of such devices. Wires can be clumsy and inconvenient and being tethered to wires can produce an entanglement in a critical maneuver or motion particularly when engaged in physical activities.
Many users of small audio devices use special carriers or accessory holders such as a hip, waist or arm belts that are designed to support the device more easily by the user during operation. But placing the audio device in the accessory (such as a pocket or holder) often makes it difficult to operate the controls on the audio device, such as the on/off, channel change and/or volume controls. In addition, such carriers or holders can feel uncomfortable when attached to the body and further inhibit movement at times or limit the type of clothing worn by the user.
Further improvements are still needed that will make audio players more convenient in operation as well as enhance their functionality. Therefore there is a need for providing a new and improved headset/audio player interface apparatus which eliminates the troublesome wired connection and streamlines the use of headphones.